Proposed storyline the future

[Legendary_Spider]

Ok here is what I have so far for a US story. It still needs to scripted with dialogue and smoothed out, but here is the rough concept:



The Untold Tale of “Old Ironsides”

By: Legendary_Spider

Start date: October 1812

American Relations: France – Ally, British – enemy, Spain - Nuetral

Nationality: American

Starting vessel: USS Constitution

Featured Ships: US Ships: USS Constitution, USS Congress, USS United States

British Ships: HMS Victory, suggestions for others would be great.

Pirate Ships: Doradoa, El Mesquito

Others?

Starting Location: Eleuthera

Player character: Captain William Bainbridge

Status: After defeating the HMS Guerriere, the USS Constitution is now captained by William Bainbridge. He receives official orders to intercept a British naval vessel, the HMS Java, near Brazil, on her way to the East Indies, carrying the newly appointed lieutenant-governor of Bombay.

Mission: Secretly, Bainbridge is given orders directly from President Madison:

Investigate rumors of an experimental sailing/steam-powered hybrid frigate being built in somewhere in the Caribbean near Jamaica. If the rumors of such a vessel were true, it could mean the end of the war with the defeat of the newly-formed United States.

Investigate the Caribbean and to confirm the existence of this ship. If confirmed, use any means necessary to capture her and bring her into dock at Eleuthera. Beware, there are numerous British patrols in the area, as well as a strong pirate presence. So using a neutral ship during investigations may be preferable. Use extreme caution as the British will not let her go without a fight.

Should assistance be required, the Constitution’s sister ships, the USS Congress, commanded by Captain John Smith, and the USS United States, commanded by Captain Stephen Decatur Jr. are in the Caribbean as part of a US fleet pursuing a British fleet sailing from Jamaica. They have been ordered to assist, as capturing this steam frigate (if she exists) is the highest priority.

A well known pirate, currently a US privateer, Jean Laffite may be of help as he is aware of things happening behind the scenes in the Caribbean. Find him and question him about the rumors of the hybrid. If needs be, he may require “financial motivation”. He supports the United States in the war, and is known for treating people well, so he should cooperate. He commands a small fleet of smugglers, and his ship is the brigantine, Doradoa.

Another well known pirate operating in the area is Roberto Cofresi. He operates near Puerto Rico and is especially aggressive towards the United States so avoid contact with him if you can. He is known for nailing his victims to the deck of his ship. His ship is the schooner, El Mosquito.

Objectives: Report in. Resupply ship. Inquire in tavern about rumors of the hybrid. Find Laffite. Bribe him if needed. Find out info on the hybrid. Follow up on any leads. Acquire a neutral ship and outfit. Investigate Jamaica. Use any means to capture NOT sink the hybrid. Repel any pirate or British threats. Deliver the hybrid to Eleuthra.

Ideas:

Extend last period to 1830. 1830 is when piracy in the Caribbean finally fizzled out and became rare.

Side Missions – something involving Roberto Cofre. Something about crippling British ships in the area. Teaming up with Laffite for a mission. More? Idk

A pirate battle with Roberto Corfresi. Multiple vessels?

A battle with a British ship defending the hybrid

Battles with British ships throughout the Caribbean Multiple?

Final climactic battle between the USS Constitution and HMS Victory. MUST have! (come on, who doesn’t wanna see that?) She could do a surprise ambush at the end. We could have the battle end with a stalemate. Something like the Constitution crippling the Victory and escaping with the hybrid. The hybrid could even be in the battle. While attacking the victory, the player has to keep the hybrid from being destroyed or captured.

Might need a new model for the Doradoa. Probably just new texture for El Mesquito. USS Congress and USS United States could use the Constitution model. Just need different sterns. The Congress would need a new paint job. Other than that, I think we could just use the ships we already have. We already have the USS Victory. Plus the Constitution needs to be tweaked. Now being a quest vessel, she would need her nameplate. She’s gonna need bow chasers. And sticking the “stars & stripes” shield on the eagle’s chest on the stern.




Let me know what you think.

Oops. I meant HMS Victory. My bad.

 

[Legendary_Spider]

I had a thought about possibly using the USS Pennsylvania, but she doesn't exist yet in 1812. I WOULD however, love to see her made into the game someday. She's the United States' version of the HMS Victory. And a beautiful ship. From what I saw from a pic of her, you could probably just modify the Victory model a bit. Because the US_Victory looks A LOT like the Pennsylvania.

 

[Thagarr]

Interesting storyline Legendary_Spider! An interesting mix of actual history and a bit of fiction, that usually makes for the best stories!

Jean Lafitte is an excellent choice as a central character! Of course, you can't forget his brother Pierre Lafitte should at least have a bit of a cameo in there some where. There are all kinds of possibility's in playing out the political intrigue that existed during that time. And a final showdown between the Constitution and the Victory would be epic!

A few other possibility's for pirates around that time :

José Gaspar

Henri Caesar

Charles Gibbs

 

[Legendary_Spider]

Jean Lafitte is an excellent choice as a central character! Of course, you can't forget his brother Pierre Lafitte should at least have a bit of a cameo in there some where.

I need to double check, but i think his brother is being held captive at this point.

And a final showdown between the Constitution and the Victory would be epic!

Wouldn't it be? I think every history buff would drool to see that.

I was thinking the hybrid would be protected by a small fleet or British and possibly pirates/privateers allied with the British. And the Constitution would then team up with the Congress and the United States against the fleet. And then the hybrid makes a run for it, but Old Ironsides cuts her off and the two go at it. But you fail if you sink the hybrid. Capture only.

I attached some pics of the SS Savannah, a US steam-powered that was the first steam/sailing hybrid to cross the Atlantic. But we could just use one of the steam frigates that have already been designed. Simple. She needs a name though . . . suggestions?

I don't think we have any brigantine models, so we'd need someone to design the Doradoa. I don't think we would need to build a Congress or United States from scratch. They would essentially be modified Constitutions. And the Constitution herself needs 2 bow chasers added on her.

I swear if nobody build a USS Pennsylvania by the time I figure out the modeling tools, I'm gonna do it myself. lol

I would love to see her in the game.

 

[Armada]

Constitution vs. Victory sounds great! :ixi
However... history shouldn't be toyed with too much, in my opinion. Victory was taken out of service on the 7th November 1812, so you're gonna have to tweak the start point a bit.
Even then, we need a convincing back story explaining why she left the Baltic Sea (where she historically was at the time) to come to the Caribbean...
We could probably say that she was tasked with joining the escort fleet for the steam frigate during her sea trials. They obviously needed some tight security, so that's where Victory comes in.
If this works out, then Victory gets her nameplate too!

But we could just use one of the steam frigates that have already been designed. Simple. She needs a name though . . . suggestions?

The steam frigates had names given to them during their original trials in the game; you could only see the names in ships_init.c, until I recently used them as class names for the reformed naming system.
When I added the British steam frigate, I thought it only fair that I followed the convention and gave her a name, so I chose HMS Astrea. I like the name, and it has actually been used by the RN.
By coincidence, there was a British frigate named HMS Astraea (commonly spelled Astrea, like our steam frigate) around during this storyline's period: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Astraea_%281810%29
For the story's sake, I suggest we say that this frigate was chosen for the steam experiment, heavily modified for it, and became her own class.
Luckily, she's very similar in design to the Constitution-based frigates in-game, so it is plausible. What do you reckon?

I don't think we have any brigantine models, so we'd need someone to design the Doradoa.

Actually, we do have a modified stock game Brig which is classed as a Brigantine. Try out Brigantina1, and see what you think.

 

[Legendary_Spider]

However... history shouldn't be toyed with too much, in my opinion. Victory was taken out of service on the 7th November 1812, so you're gonna have to tweak the start point a bit.
Even then, we need a convincing back story explaining why she left the Baltic Sea (where she historically was at the time) to come to the Caribbean...
We could probably say that she was tasked with joining the escort fleet for the steam frigate during her sea trials. They obviously needed some tight security, so that's where Victory comes in.

Well let's see, The Constitution arrived in Boston harbor on August 30th 1812. And encounters the HMS Java off the coast of Brazil on December 29th, 1812. And the HMS Victory returned from her Baltic and Spanish campaigns to Portsmouth for the last time on December 4th 1812.

So that's the kind of time frame we have to work with. So . . . maybe we should set it to September and October then? I know realistically, that probably wouldn't be enough time for the Constitution and the Victory to meet, but I think we can get away with smudging the history a little.

For the story's sake, I suggest we say that this frigate was chosen for the steam experiment, heavily modified for it, and became her own class.
Luckily, she's very similar in design to the Constitution-based frigates in-game, so it is plausible. What do you reckon?

That sounds good to me!

I like the name Astrea too. Instead of being the HMS Astrea, we could rename her the SS Astrea.

I was thinking her after capture, we could rename her the SS Savannah. And have the Americans claim to have built her after studying her for a few years and modifying her to their liking and such.

http://en.wikipedia....iki/SS_Savannah

The real SS Savannah came out in 1818. Although that would be dumb since that misses the end of the war by 4 years. Ok scrap the idea of renaming her SS Savannah after her capture. We'll just keep it Astrea.

Actually, we do have a modified stock game Brig which is classed as a Brigantine. Try out Brigantina1, and see what you think.

I spelled her name wrong. It's Dorada. Yes that brigantine will work fine. Just need to make sure she has a Spanish color scheme.

So it sounds like we wouldn't even need to make any new ships. Just modify a couple.

The modelers will love me for that.

However, I think we need to make a couple new character models for this story.

 

[Legendary_Spider]

Weird. One account on Wikipedia says the HMS Victory ended her career on November 7th, 1812. But on the museum site, it says she ended her career on December 4th, 1812.

Armada, you're British. Which is it?

 

[Armada]

Well let's see, The Constitution arrived in Boston harbor on August 30th 1812. And encounters the HMS Java off the coast of Brazil on December 29th, 1812.

Weird. One account on Wikipedia says the HMS Victory ended her career on November 7th, 1812. But on the museum site, it says she ended her career on December 4th, 1812.

I'd trust the official site to give the real date. Wikipedia is the most likely of the two to be wrong, of course.
Besides, if December is correct, that gives us more time. So maybe having the story start in September would work that way.

We could always say that the battle with Victory isn't the end of the story, if it seems too short.
Perhaps after that, the player is given access to the steam frigate, while the Constitution sails off towards Brazil.

That sounds good to me!

I like the name Astrea too. Instead of being the HMS Astrea, we could rename her the SS Astrea.

Well once the US captures the ship, we can change the prefix, but it would probably be USS. I think SS only refers to merchant steamships.

 

[Legendary_Spider]

I'd trust the official site to give the real date. Wikipedia is the most likely of the two to be wrong, of course.
Besides, if December is correct, that gives us more time. So maybe having the story start in September would work that way.

We could always say that the battle with Victory isn't the end of the story, if it seems too short.
Perhaps after that, the player is given access to the steam frigate, while the Constitution sails off towards Brazil.

Yeah let's start it in September. That'll give us the most time for the story.

Yeah, I like the idea of having the captured hybrid turn from HMS to USS.

I really wanted to use the Constitution for the entire story, but yeah if it's too short, we could switch the hybrid. We'll have to see how long the story goes for. We probably need to get the Victory out of the way by October at the latest, but the Constitution could stick around in the Caribbean till November. The Victory doesn't necessarily have to be the end of the story. Just the end of the "capture the hybrid" mission. I think if we start in September, we could realistically use the Constitution for the storyline until November. Just make sure to do the Victory battle no later than October. So if September to November is too short, we'll switch to the hybrid and a different playable character. Then we could do some "testing the hybrid out" missions.

 

[Legendary_Spider]

This story is gonna be so awesome if it becomes a part of the game.

 

[Armada]

Agreed. It sounds great even before we've got to the fun part!

I think I've got a bit ahead of myself... I've already re-done the unique Victory texture:

[attachment=6326:Victory_unique.jpg]

The yellow parts are slightly more orange than the standard Victory, and of course there's the nameplate.
There's still no use for her until the story gets up and running, but she's ready anyway.

Now there's just the Constitution's nameplate to sort out (unless we want to add them to any other ships for the story).
Supposedly it could be in B14 with no Patches installed, but I don't want to reinstall the whole mod just for one ship.
Pieter has loads of back-ups, I think, so I'll ask him about it.

 

[Legendary_Spider]

She looks great!

Besides the Constitution, the Congress and the United States will need nameplates.

And you said we're just gonna keep using the 13 star flag (Betsy Ross successor) instead of making a 15 star flag, correct?

So what all would it take to make this story a reality? What more can I do?

 

[Armada]

Besides the Constitution, the Congress and the United States will need nameplates.

And probably the Astrea, too? We already have unique versions of every steam frigate, so it makes sense.
I'm waiting to see what Pieter can find. If the Constitution's nameplate is simply a texture, like the Victory, then making others will be just as easy.
If it's a modelled nameplate, however, then we have a problem, because we'd need a modeller to do it. Let's just hope it's not. :urgh

As for the flag, we already DO have the 15 star version in the last game period, so no changes needed.

I suggest you start writing the beginning of the storyline, because that would give us something to work from. :hmm
Ideally, the whole thing needs to be scripted, with dialogue options for the character, and each option leads to a different (or similar) outcome.
Talking of that, it might be nice to have an opt-out from the story right at the beginning, to allow the player free roam of the last period if they wish.
For example, upon arriving in the Caribbean, Bainbridge might have to talk to a senior officer, and can either say (for example):

Officer: Good day, Captain. What business do you have here?
Response 1: I'm here under direct orders from the President... [starts the storyline]
Response 2: Nothing special, just a routine visit for supplies and ammunitions... [bypasses the storyline, allows free play]

Does that sound like a good idea? It's not very often the player can choose to do what they want... :yoho

 

[Legendary_Spider]

Did all our modellers die off or what?

We need to crack some wips.

Somehow I just know this is gonna take me learning how to model and doing it myself.

lol

Ah crap. I was afraid I'd have to write all the dialogue too. That will take a while.

Yeah I like your idea to have the player free to do what they want. We could have other branch off options too.

I guess I'll start working on a script. I feel like I'm making a movie. lol

 

[Armada]

Well, the only thing with modellers is that they generally take a bit of persuading to do requests.
Usually they make what they want, we leave them to it, and then tell them how great they are for doing it. No complaining from anyone.
But requests often get ignored or put off over personal desires. I'm talking very generally, because not all modellers do this, mind you.
It's only natural. I mean, if you were a modeller, you'd want to make ships that you want, not other people want, right?

As for the dialogue, all I can say is that it won't write itself, and no-one else will, so that just leaves you.
That's not to say people won't chip in if you're stuck for ideas. I'll be more than happy to help where I can, cos you've got me interested!
As you said, it will be like making a movie, especially if you start adding notes about characters' actions etc...
I know it will take time, but just keep thinking about how awesome the story will be, and time will fly.

 

[Armada]

Thanks to Pieter, I have a copy of the Constitution with the nameplate, but there's a catch: it doesn't look right.

[attachment=6331:Constitution_nameplate.jpg]

Firstly, it seems too small.
Secondly, it's not central, and I don't think it should be in italics.
Thirdly, and most importantly, it's modelled onto the hull.

So we have two options: (a) try to sweet talk a modeller into fixing it, or (b) try to make one via texturing. Neither will be easy.
I would prefer the texturing option myself, since it would be easy to do for other ships of the same design once I know how.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

One of the reasons we decided to take off the name was because a modeled name takes more processing power to draw. However, even when the name IS there, you really couldn't read it.
So we figured it's easier to use an unnamed ship as the USS Constitution in the future than to use a named ship in random encounters.

 

[Legendary_Spider]

Yeah it's not quite right. Here is what it's supposed to look like.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Looks like the placement of the name is correct though; try the current version in the game and see what you think of the readability of the name.
I might be wrong, but I'm inclined to believe that even if the name looks correct, you'll still hardly be able to read it in the game, defeating the purpose of all the effort. :?

 

[Legendary_Spider]

Looks like this will have to be another thing I do myself when I learn how to model.

Ok time for me to read all those tutorials and lean,